Maxs Savior Billy

By: Tanya Michele

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Length: 1 hr and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

“It’s not fair!” Max said as she threw her bike to the ground. “Why won’t you let me have a go?” She stormed off. Ant looked, first, at his sister then at his best mate Billy. Both boys shrugged as they watched her walk across the lawn heading toward the backdoor. The boys were kneeling in Ant’s Garden as they built a bike ramp out of two wooden planks—the type used by workmen when putting up scaffolding—and an upturned metal bucket. One end of each plank rested on the ground while the other rested on the bucket. It seemed like a good idea; however, every time they tried to ride up the slope, the planks toppled off. For the umpteenth time, Ant laid the planks back on the bucket,and now he was determined to secure them in place. He hurried off to look for extra support. Reaching his dad’s shed, Ant disappeared inside. Amongst the tools, the lawn mower, and other Dad stuff, and after several bangs, clatters, and the use of words neither his mother nor Miss Tompkins, his form teacher, would tolerate, Ant re-emerged carrying four house bricks left over from the building of the garden wall. Between strides, he announced, “This should do it.” He looked at his mate. Billy, sat on his bike at the far side of the garden, waiting for Ant to place the bricks under the planks. After a few minutes, Ant gave him the thumbs up. Billy raised himself off his seat and used his whole-body weight to push down on the pedals. The bike lurched forward. With each rotation of the chain-wheel, it gained speed. Focused on the ramp, and confident he would hit it square on, he went for the big one. This is it. He told himself. Ant will be so impressed. The wind blew in his face, and his helmet wobbled from side to side as he rode as hard as he could. Ant squatted on his haunches to get a better view of the wheels striking the ramp. Since he wanted to build a slope that lasted, Ant needed to see what kept going wrong. ******** With both boys concentrating on the task, neither of them noticed that Ant’s sister Max hadn’t made it to the backdoor. Her anger had reached boiling point. Instead, she turned and ran as fast as she could back toward the ramp. If they won’t let me play, then they won’t play either. The thought drove her on. Max reached the first plank with only seconds to spare. Without stopping, she kicked at the wood, sending it off the bucket and clattering to the ground. The front wheel of Billy’s bike arrived where the jump should have been. With no ramp, he flew straight ahead, catching his bike’s pedal in the handle of the spinning bucket. The bike swung violently off course, and now Billy headed directly toward the shed. Both boy and bike might have faced total disaster if it hadn’t been for Ant crouched in between. Ant’s instant response came automatically; he leapt like a frightened frog away from the path of the speeding bike. He rolled..........